How to fix burn on Instant Pot message on machines, what it means when it appears on your screen and what do I do if Instant Pot says burn? We will show you how to avoid it the next time you cook so everything goes smoothly!
Whether you’re new to cooking in your Instant Pot or you’ve been using it a long time like I have, there’s nothing worse than seeing the dreaded BURN on Instant Pot! Well let me share what I’ve learned over the almost 2 years and 101+ Instant Pot recipes too. (affiliate links present)
Instant Pot Burn Code
First, Watch this Video where I show you exactly how to prevent the Instant Pot burn message. This can happen with a Ninja Foodi too when using the pressure cooker function. The main reason is that you have stuck on food left on the bottom of your inner pot, that’s a no no.
Once you get the hang of this you won’t even think about it, it will just become second nature after that. It only takes a minute or two after sauteeing especially meat.
Jump to
Let’s start with a few basic tips:
- Make sure to Bookmark our InstaPot recipes page. We add new ones each week!
- Then LIKE our IP Facebook page for new ideas daily.
- This is a great InstaPot cookbook to grab too.
- I HIGHLY recommend you buy this non stick pot. It is easier to clean and will avoid the burn message too.
For reference, this is the pressure cooker I have and use for all recipe creations.
What does it mean when Instant Pot says burn?
When it first happens you will or probably already have freaked out and not know what to do or how it even happened. Especially if you open it up and nothing is in fact burning….what does it even mean?? I can say it hasn’t happened to me very often, but it has happened on occasion. The first thing you need to wrap your head around when you are learning how to use your Instant Pot is that you need liquid inside your pot or the burn warning will turn on for sure.
Can I ignore burn message on Instant Pot?
No, it will turn off and stop cooking when this alert pop up on the screen. You have to do something or it will stop and just sit there. You can save the meal still but of course it is better to avoid it to begin with. A bit of extra liquid and scraping the bottom of the pot usually does the trick but it will have to reach pressure all over again after.
What Does Burn Mean on my Instant Pot
Instant Pot Burn Message after Saute
So….that is tip #1, if there isn’t enough liquid the Instant Pot burn message will surely appear on your Instant Pot screen for sure. Tip #2, many times this is a false alarm and nothing is in fact burning so don’t worry….we can fix it! Tip #3 you need to deglaze your Instant Pot after cooking meat, here’s how to do that.
Instant Pot Food Burn Reset
How to Fix
- If you don’t have enough liquid in your pot – as stated above
- Solution – open the lid then:
- ensure there isn’t burnt food inside
- another 1/2 cup of liquid
- make sure sealing ring is in place
- close lid and steam valve again
- press off/cancel
- set your pressure high/low again
- set your time again
- Solution – open the lid then:
- Something is burning
- Solution – open your pot and remove your food, salvage what you can
- Next time:
- make sure to deglaze your pot (<—-instructions in this post) after searing/cooking meat
- leave meat on the bottom and do not stir contents when setting pressure, see how I explain it with my Instant Pot spaghetti
2. If you haven’t deglazed your Instant Pot – after cooking, and especially after searing meat on the saute function you need to do this
- Solution – remove meat, turn pot off/cancel & scrape the bottom to remove food stuck to bottom of the pot
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- allow pot to cool
- return meat (and other ingredients) to pot
- put lid on and close pressure valve again
- set to pressure high/low again
- resume cooking and that should solve the problem
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- You’ve used thick sauces – this isn’t recommended when pressure cooking, thick tomato sauce or honey bbq sauce are often culprits
There’s something stuck on your heating element – lift pot up and check underneath for this
I will say that in the years I have been using my Instant Pot I have only maybe had the burn notice come on a handful of times, and I use it almost every day. Once I understood that liquid was key it helped a lot. Also, most of the time burn came on there was nothing in fact burning so don’t freak out. If you read and understand the reasons why your Instant Pot says burn you will have a lot better chance avoiding burn on Instant Pot machines in the future and enjoying your pressure cooker on a daily basis like we do.
After a few burn notices – I use a separate pan for sautéing then transfer to IP. Have never rec’d burn notice once I started doing this. I clean the sauté pan while IP is heating up and it’s never a problem.
That’s why I only use the low pressure. Seems to work better for me. No worries. I have had burn come up on the high pressure. I just allow more time to cook and use the low pressure. Less stress. And yes a lot of liquid in the t on high and it was a total nightmare in that category. Never again I just use low pressure. Solves it all
That burn feature is a pain. Made stew used more water than recommended and got the Burn Message. Took everything out of the pot
Then I cleaned the pot And I added a little more water and try it again. Same thing happened all over again. I’ve used it with a lot of other recipes and it seem to work fine. I am not giving up on it but it is quite frustrating.
In general it has been very good for many recipes but making stew is not a good one.
Oh, and I finished my Chili on the slow cooker setting and it was amazing!
I just got my 6 quart Instant Pot Max this week. My first use was to make chili, and I repeatedly got the burn message, yet nothing was burned. I realized I had forgotten to scrap the bottom after sautéing my onions and ground beef in it. In addition, I forgot to layer my ingredients, I instead stirred them together. And finally, I make a thicker chili by adding a can of refried beans, and I’m figuring that is another reason I got the burn message. So clearly, I made some newby boo-boo’s. And clearly, that’s not the instant pot’s fault…it’s user error. Lesson learned, and next time, I’ll be sure to remove my meat and onions, add my broth, scrap the bottom good, layer my ingredients and add the refried beans after the rest is done pressure cooking. But I’m sure as heck not throwing out my Instant Pot because I made a mistake. I dont give up that easily. ; )
I’m getting a lot of good tips from the people who write. I have got the burn message when i use tomato sauce or paste. Just learnt about layering. I’m hoping that will work. Right now I’m cooking my chili, which gave me the burn message while pressuring, on the slow cooker feature and turned it on HI. Hope this is one way to save my dinner. Glad i started early.
I love my IP but have gotten the Burn notice from time to time mostly when using tomato sauce recipes since they are heavier. I do layer everything with water first and still get the message. So now I put the water in the bottom and then put a metal veggie steamer in the pot upside down and put everything else on top of that and haven’t had a Burn notice since. It seems to keep the water where it can turn to steam without letting the heavier ingredients sit on the bottom where they can burn. So far it’s working for me.
I’ve used my beloved Instant Pot at least a dozen times since receiving it as a Christmas gift and tonight I got the burn food warning. After following your advice and adding a bit more water and scraping up all the bottom bits, it worked just as it was supposed to.
Indian Butter Chicken does have a heavy tomato sauce, so that must have been the culprit.
Thank you for your column. It helped!
I am new to the instant pot craze! I have cooked a roast (bbq style) with great success and made bbq beef on a bun with it. Last night I made chicken with veggies and rice and got the burn message. I’m not giving up on my Instant Pot. Someone on Amazon told me to make sure and spray the pot with non stick spray. I may also get a non stick pot for it. There are many tricks and tips out there!